Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee Written evidence submitted by Philippa Robinson, founder of The Karlton Index
Dog Welfare
1. Has the response by dog breeders and the veterinary profession been effective?
1.1 No. There are published veterinary papers notably those of Hodgman expressing concerns over pedigree dog health going as far back as 1961 and 1964. These warnings were unheeded then and only now following the Bateson Inquiry are things beginning to change. But progress is slow. The veterinary profession is too silent and inert on health and welfare matters probably through the misplaced motive of protecting their livelihoods.
1.2 My project www.thekarltonindex.com measures the progress being made on health by each breed club—the last publication was September 2011. A full report can be made available to your inquiry but in summary I scored each breed out of 100 on what they are doing visibly on health and out of the 188 breed groups scored I found:
20 breeds scored 0/100 because they are doing nothing visibly whatsoever on health—no health section on their website, very little health testing and no health surveillance.
60 breeds scored less than double figures. Meaning that they may have sketchy health sections on their club websites and only a tiny minority of breeders are health testing and they are not carrying out any health surveillance.
Only 22 breeds scored more than 20/100 on my scoring framework and of those only ONE breed community has a published health strategy that included ongoing health surveillance, contextualised health priorities and supporting resources. And that one breed group was Dachshunds. Their breed council is exemplary. They received the highest score of 40/100.
I will be scoring all the breed clubs again in March 2013 so will be able to report any progress. But if one breed community can be effective on health under the current system why can’t they all be?
1.3 Vetcompass http://www.rvc.ac.uk/VetCompass/Index.cfm now exists through which better health surveillance can be maintained but I am disappointed to learn that out of an approximate UK population of 3300 (http://www.vetdbase.com/) vet practices only 200 or so are actually participating in the Vetcompass programme which costs them nothing to take part. This demonstrates significant apathy on the part of vets to help safeguard and improve canine health and welfare. But then it is not in their interests financially to improve the health of their canine patients. That is why they need to compelled to do more though regulation.
1.4 The Kennel club is a major player in our national infrastructure supporting the health and welfare of dogs. They have a history of serious inertia in taking positive action but I believe this not to be solely their fault. The veterinary profession has been too quick to turn blind eyes to problems. Other agencies such as the RSPCA and Dogs Trust do not have a track-record in collaborative working but pursue their own self interested agendas. But under the new Chairmanship of Prof Steven Dean I have detected positive changes at the Kennel Club such as the vet checks at Crufts. They also have now published two annual health reports one in 2010 and one in 2011. But please remember that they were established in 1873! So it has taken them 137 years to get around to tackling health issues. But it is a start.
2. What actions should Government take to address these issues?
2.1 Make all the stakeholders related to dog health and welfare accountable for their poor performance on health and welfare and make them accountable for improved collaborative partnership working. A national canine improvement strategy in which they all contribute and they can each fund (they are all reasonably well resourced organisations with annual budgets running into millions) should be drawn up overseen by a regulatory body. This should include all the veterinary professional bodies, the Animal Health Trust (though they are the poorest of these stakeholders), the Dogs Trust, the RSPCA and the Kennel Club. Each has existed for decades, over a hundred years in many cases. That they have allowed a system to be created by which the dogs have ended up suffering from increased levels of genetic problems and increased welfare risks is an appalling indictment on their approach. There needs to be greater accountability to government.
3. Are further controls required on dog breeders, including puppy farms, and those selling or importing dogs to ensure the welfare of bitches and puppies?
3.1 The selling of puppies through pet shops should be outlawed as the pet stores provide no provenance for their puppy stock—the puppies origins are untraceable. Puppies should not be available to the public through the retail trade. Puppies should be kept with their mothers until they are sold to a new home.
3.2 All breeders should be licensed no matter how many litters they breed. All puppies should be microchipped.
3.3 The RSPCA has developed a Puppy Contract which is and excellent development and this should be made compulsory for all dog/puppy sellers no matter who they are.
July 2012